X Reactivates Search Function for Taylor Swift After Surge of Deepfakes Spurred Crackdown

Elon Musk’s X has reactivated the ability to search its social network for musician Taylor Swift, after disabling queries for her name in response to a flood of explicit deepfake images.

“Search has been re-enabled and we will continue to be vigilant for attempts to spread this content and will remove it wherever we find it,” said Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X.

Last week, explicit artificial intelligence-generated images of Swift amassed tens of millions of views on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. X’s efforts to curb their spread included disabling the search. She wasn’t alone in being a recent high-profile target of the technology: U.S. President Joe Biden was also the victim of a fake audio clip spreading online, created with the help of widely available AI tools.

Swift, who was seen Sunday in Baltimore celebrating with her boyfriend’s NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs, has made no public comment on the issue.